


like sand

by myTBRisgrowing



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Beach Sex, Come Marking, Enemies to Lovers, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Force Bond (Star Wars), Force Bond Sexual Situations (Star Wars), Force Bond Shenanigans (Star Wars), Gift Giving, Jewelry, Mild Angst, Naked Female Clothed Male, Pining, Post-Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but really HEA at heart, soft smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:14:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28883721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myTBRisgrowing/pseuds/myTBRisgrowing
Summary: “Rey gathers a handful of sand and watches as it slowly slips between her fingers. This was all it was ever going to be—stolen glances and touches, whenever the Force decided to put her to the test. Was this some sort of sick Jedi trial? Rey didn’t know, and she didn’t really care anymore. It felt like a matter of time, moments slipping through her fingers, before he found their location at last and they would have to face each other in person again.”The Force brings Ben to Rey on a beach.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 25
Kudos: 52





	like sand

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Celia_and](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Celia_and/gifts).



> Here’s some soft canonverse smut: I don’t know what I’m doing but I hope you like it. I wrote it as a somewhat ambiguous ending, but honestly, I’ll never write a fic where my Ben doesn’t eventually find his way home with Rey.
> 
> I’m gifting this to Celia_and because any angst I’ll ever write is inspired by the journeys to happy endings that she writes. Thanks for the gift of your words, Celia.

_And when the sand turns to glass and all that's left is the past _

_ I will love you still _

“Hell on the Throat” by Dashboard Confessional

Rey gathers a handful of sand and watches as it slowly slips between her fingers. This was all it was ever going to be—stolen glances and touches, whenever the Force decided to put her to the test. Was this some sort of sick Jedi trial? Rey didn’t know, and she didn’t really care anymore. It felt like a matter of time, moments slipping through her fingers, before he found their location at last and they would have to face each other in person again.

Whenever she feels that tingle at the top of her spine and registers the tell-tale ebb tide of sound, she knows by now what she has to do. She puts up her strongest mental shields, in the hope that she can at least protect the Resistance’s location one more time, and locks her emotions away deep in her heart. 

Thankfully, Rey had chosen to come to her isolated piece of beach that morning, enough distance from the base that she doesn’t need to worry about being found in the arms of her sometimes-but-not-quite enemy. That would be difficult to explain, to say the least.

Rey actually likes the current Resistance base; it’s not cold like Crait, and it’s not a sterile ship filled with recycled air. There’s even more green in this jungle than Takodana, and an ocean warmer than Ahch-to; the pale green-tinged sand at the beach is soft and gentle—this is no Jakku. As much as her body has come to crave these brief unions across the stars, she’s doing what she can to protect this temporary home and this family she’s found.

***

The strength of emotion that hits Ben upon seeing Rey—that’s who he is right now, it’s getting harder to think of himself as Kylo when he’s with her—the shock to his heart every time he sees her beauty in person, it feels impossible for him to hide from her.

She’s clearly just been in the water, damp hair down around her shoulders. She’s sitting on some sort of ground, in her breast band and leggings; tunic and arm wraps folded neatly in her lap. They’ve seen each other enough times in various stages of undress that Rey doesn’t try to hide herself; Ben is grateful to have at least earned her trust in that way.

“Swimming again?” he asks, attempting to keep his voice cool and detached. 

Rey rewards him with a wry smile. “I find that being in the water helps me meditate, keeps my mental walls strong. You know, in case some Force user out there tries to get inside, tries to take whatever he wants.” This earns her a small laugh.

The laugh fades as Ben stops to push the hair out of his eyes. He’s felt water across the bond before, Rey’s fingertips and the warmth of her fire, and by now the rest of her body. But this is the first time he’s felt a breeze; it’s definitely not coming from the stale air of his ship.

Rey looks up at him with something like fear in her eyes. “You can feel the wind, can’t you?” Despite her attempts to hide her emotions, Ben can feel the chill of that fear leaking through the bond, crawling and clawing across his heart like the formation of ice.

Recognizing that fear, something breaks inside Ben’s heart. He’s learned to accept her anger, used that to fuel the energy required to hide his blossoming love for her. Fear, though—he can’t live with her fearing him any longer.

For the first time, instead of putting up a shield to hide his feelings, Ben does all he can to break down any barrier between them. He tries to project as much love and trust to Rey in the hopes that she won’t think of him as a monster any longer, as one who would seek any upper hand in order to destroy her. 

A sharp intake of air between her lips tells him that it may have worked, that there’s a chance Rey believes him. 

Ben reaches down to caress Rey’s cheek, softer than the wind. “Don’t you know by now, little scavenger?” he says gently. “You’ve stolen my heart. I would freely give you all my time, all my life. The only consolation I have being apart from you, being Supreme Leader, is that I can use my power to keep you safe, keep you alive.”

That first touch, skin to skin across the stars, always does them in. This time though, it’s not only passion crossing the bond. Ben’s words have given them both permission to embrace rather than try to stop the flow of love between them.

***

Rey is up on her knees, fingers flying to relieve Ben of his trousers. Ben is leaning over her, grateful for the privilege of unwrapping her breast band once again. Their hands work in tandem to get them as quickly as possible to a place of physical connectedness that will match their hearts in this moment.

In previous times together, Rey had always felt an urgency, a sense of time flowing through her fingers like sand, trying to glean as much pleasure as possible without giving away her mind or heart. 

Today, there is a desperation in their touches—not from fear, but from a need to pour as much love into the bond before it can be cruelly interrupted once more.

They make love—Rey cradled in the warmsand and Ben above her. In their haste, he remains in his thick, black tunic. His hands alternatively caress Rey and push into the give of the sand, building temporary little monuments to the power of their love. Ben pauses to notice the grains of sand clinging to his fingertips.

“Ben...I want...I need you to come on me. I need to carry you on me, to know this is real when you’re gone,” Rey pants as she feels her body begin to approach her climax.

“I’ll try, cyar’ika...but I don’t know if it will work...across the bond.” 

A few more thrusts, a few more practiced caresses of her clit, and Rey is coming. Ben sees her through, then pulls out of her. He gets up on his knees and continues to his own climax, painting her freckled chest and stomach with ropes of iridescent cum. It glows in the sunshine of the morning, contrasted with the tan on Rey’s skin.  So beautiful.

***

“Can you feel it, cyar’ika?” Ben asks as he attempts to catch his breath.

Rey looks up at him, smiling, this black-clad warrior blocking out the sun above her. His hair is tousled from the wind and the exertion. She’s never seen him so lovely.

She sits up on her elbows and looks down at her chest, the evidence of Ben’s devotion beginning to dry in the heat of the sun. “I can, my love. Thank you.” She takes a finger and uses it to draw a heart over the place where her own heart beats. “I’ll carry you with me.”

They bend towards each other to steal a kiss before the Force can separate them once again. Ben tucks a stray hair behind Rey’s ears, then takes a moment to twine his fingers at the nape of her neck. “I love you, cyar’ika. I will find my way home to you.” 

The sound of the outside world flows back in as Rey clothes herself and Ben pulls up his trousers. The Force does not afford them the chance to say goodbye. Rey is left alone on her beach, with the feeling of sand and cum on her body, and hope in her heart.

***

The next time they connect across the stars, Ben quickly grabs a small box from somewhere near him and presents it to Rey. Rey tentatively holds out her hand, unsure of the limitations of the bond. She is pleasantly surprised when the weight of the box settles on her hand.

“It’s a gift. I made it for you. No tracker, I promise,” he huffs out a laugh. Rey can see a blush on his cheeks. Tears prick at Rey’s eyes and a lump forms in her throat; gifts were never a part of her scavenging life, and gifts are an unknown luxury when one is fighting a war for the galaxy.

Rey carefully opens the box and unwraps the paper inside. It’s a bracelet—a small piece of glass in a beautiful celadon shade, surrounded by delicately-wrapped wire. “Can I help you put it on?” Ben asks as he gently takes her wrist. “I made it myself, in my own quarters. No one will be asking why the Supreme Leader is making jewelry.”

He unwinds part of Rey’s left arm wrap, starting at her hand. “You can keep it hidden under your wrap if you’d like, so no one else can see, just you.” Once the bracelet is on, Ben carefully covers it up, tucks in her wrap, and brings Rey’s hand to his lips. At that moment, the Force interrupts the bond, leaving Rey alone in her quarters.

“Thank you, Ben,” Rey whispers to the empty air, hoping the thought will find him across the stars.

***

The realization doesn’t come until the next time Rey visits the beach. As she removes her arm wraps to go for a swim, the bracelet glows in the sunlight. The pale green piece of glass is identical in colour to the celadon sand she sits on, the shade unique to the beaches of Ajan Kloss. 

She waits.

**Author's Note:**

> In trying to find a quote referencing sand turning to glass, I stumbled upon the beautiful song “Hell on the Throat” by Dashboard Confessional. Please feel free to listen to that song and imagine Ben playing it in his ship quarters, pining for Rey and using the Force to create beautiful glass jewelry for her from the sand he collected.
> 
> Please let me know if there’s any tags I’ve missed.
> 
> You can find me on Twitter at mytbrisgrowing 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading this! Please leave kudos or comments if you would be so kind 💛


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